One of the most important stages of preparing rice for pilaf is soaking.
Professional cooks never skip this stage. We’ll tell you how they soak rice.
How to soak rice for pilaf correctly
Firstly, it is advisable to soak rice in purified water. This is especially important for those whose tap water is tasteless.
Secondly, the water for soaking should be hot. This is necessary to remove excess starch. The water should be changed as it cools.
As for the soaking time, it depends on the rice variety.
Hard varieties (basmati, devzira) are soaked for about two hours. Alanga and Lazar varieties need 30-40 minutes.
Red and brown whole grain rice need to be soaked for an hour and a half, wild (black) rice – overnight.
